SL boys take down Panthers in EC2A opener

Wednesday

Dec 19, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 19, 2012 at 11:24 PM

It took a quarter, but once South Lenoir found its way to the basket it also found its way to a win.

Ishmael Baldwin had a game-high 26 points, mostly on layups, as the Blue Devils pounded their way inside for a 67-57 win over visiting East Duplin on Wednesday in the East Central 2A Conference opener for both teams.

Ryan Herman / Sports Editor

DEEP RUN — It took a quarter, but once South Lenoir found its way to the basket it also found its way to a win.

Ishmael Baldwin had a game-high 26 points, mostly on layups, as the Blue Devils pounded their way inside for a 67-57 win over visiting East Duplin on Wednesday in the East Central 2A Conference opener for both teams.

South Lenoir (4-4, 1-0) did hit three 3-pointers, but the majority of its points came within 5 feet of the basket, especially for Baldwin.

The 6-foot-6 senior missed his first shot — a 3 — but connected on his next eight, all of which were around the rim, to help the Blue Devils bounce back after dropping three of their last four games.

“Coach always tells us our 3-point percent is like 12 percent from the 3-point line, so it’s not real good — it’s not good at all — so it’s always good to go inside with size,” Baldwin said.

“We’ve just got to play strong every game and finish around the basket, at least that’s how I see it. If we don’t finish, then it ain’t gonna be too pretty.”

The high-percentage shot helped South Lenoir to its best shooting night of the season — an even 50 percent. The 24-for-48 evening from the field was made even more impressive as the Blue Devils, who aren’t known for their free throw shooting, hit 14 of 15 from the charity stripe in the second half and 16 of 24 overall.

The second-half hot streak from the line — Baldwin was 6-for-6 and 6-7 Jaquan Wooten 4-for-4 — wound up coming in handy as the Panthers (2-7, 0-1) made a late run but hit just 7 of 18 free throws in the final two quarters.

“Ishmael and Jaquan need to touch it every time. We’ve just got to get better and getting them the ball,” South Lenoir coach Jeremy Barnett said. “We’re getting better. They’re a great group. I’ve never been down on them because I know they’re going to work hard.”

The Blue Devils led by as many as 16 in the second half but pesky East Duplin, which has now dropped five straight, refused to go away quietly.

The Panthers dominated the glass, especially on the offensive end, and used those rebounds to cut it down to single digits on four separate occasions.

Montell Stallings, who had 17 points and 14 total rebounds, 10 offensive, grabbed two key offensive boards that set up a pair of 3s for Malik Baker, who scored 14 points. But where South Lenoir was able to hit its free throws in the second half, East Duplin wasn’t.

“We’ve got to box out. We almost gave that game away for not boxing out,” Baldwin said. “We didn’t box out and they hit two 3s back-to-back.”

The game was tied twice and the lead changed hands twice in the first 4 minutes. But a 3-pointer by Luke Whaley, who had 10 points, gave the Blue Devils a 13-10 lead they never gave up.

Baldwin scored his team’s first 10 points of the second quarter, and the forward didn’t miss until a layup rolled off the back of the rim with his team up by nine late in the third period.

Baldwin matched a career-high after hitting 10 of 16 shots and 6 of 8 free throws. Jaquan Wooten had 10 points and six rebounds for South Lenoir, which was outrebounded 40-29.

“We have some things to work on, all correctable stuff,” Barnett said. “We’ll come back after Christmas, and get that stuff ready.”

EAST DUPLIN 45, SOUTH LENOIR 41

The Blue Devils cut a 10-point lead down to one in the fourth quarter but the Panthers were able to hold on for the win.

East Duplin (8-1, 1-0) led 39-29 to start the third quarter and 39-31 with just under 4 minutes to play when South Lenoir (5-3, 0-1) went on a 7-0 run to get to within two.

The teams exchanged runs from then on, and South Lenoir had a chance to tie at 44 but Heather West’s 3-point attempt was blocked.

East Duplin used a 12-0 run in the third quarter to turn a one-point deficit into an 11-point lead and end the quarter up 39-29.

West scored 12 points and Demeyia Adams had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Blue Devils. Makayla Byrd had a game-high 18 points for the Panthers.

South Lenoir is off until it hosts Hobbton in a varsity-only game on Dec. 28. The varsity girls will tip-off at 3 p.m.

Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.